Louise Alder

Louise Alder studied at the Royal College of Music International Opera School where she was the inaugural Kiri Te Kanawa Scholar.

She is a member of Oper Frankfurt’s Ensemble where her roles in the 2017/18 season include Sophie Werther and Despina Così fan tutte. She also returns to Garsington Opera as Pamina in a new production of Die Zauberflöte and to the Glyndebourne Festival as Sophie Der Rosenkavalier.

On the concert platform she sings the title role in Handel’s Semele in London and Vienna with the OAE and Ivor Bolton; Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Paul McCreesh; Rossini Arias with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Richard Egarr; Handel’s Il delirio amoroso in Cologne with Arcangelo and Jonathan Cohen and Bach’s Johannes-Passion with the Royal Nothern Sinfonia and Harry Bicket.

Dinara Alieva

Azerbaijani soprano Dinara Alieva graduated at the Baku music academy and joined the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow as soloist in 2010. She has won prizes at the Operalia Competition, Francesco Viñas Competition and Maria Callas Competition, and has since performed with the Wiener Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Oper Frankfurt, Semperoper Dresden, Staatstheater Stuttgart and Bayerische Staatsoper. Ms Alieva’s growing discography includes Pace mio Dio, a CD of Italian opera arias for Delos Records, and a recording of great Italian love duets with Alexandr Antonenko.

Engagements in the 2017/18 season and beyond include Mimi La boheme at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Violetta La Traviata at the Hamburgische Staatsoper, Desdemona Otello in Frankfurt, Nedda Pagliacci at the Liceu Barcelona, Liu Turandot for the Wiener Staatsoper, and her deut with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Violetta.

Soprano

Anna Caterina Antonacci

Established as one of the finest sopranos of her generation, Anna Caterina won prestigious prizes at the Voci Verdiane, Callas and Pavarotti competitions.

She has been honoured with the ‘Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’honneur’ by the French Republic, which is the highest national distinction one can receive. Her first recording Era la Notte for the Naive label received great acclaim and she has also recorded L’Alba separa dalla luce l’ombra for Wigmore Live, with her pianist Donald Sulzen, featuring songs by Tosti, Cilea, and Hahn.

Internationally, Cheryl is particularly noted for her performances of Madama Butterfly, singing this role for English National Opera, De Vlaamse Opera, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper, Berlin, Dutch National Opera, Houston Grand Opera and the Opéra National de Paris.

Cheryl appears regularly on the recital and concert platform and her many recordings include Madama Butterfly, Katja Kabanova, Rusalka and The Makropoulos Case for Chandos.

Cheryl was awarded the Order of Australia in the 2015 Queen’s Birthday Honours.